Can you say something about your personal and religious life?
I lived a festive childhood in a large family. When I was five, my father's younger brother returned from Colombia, where he had been ordained a Salesian priest. He made such an impression on me that I too wanted to be like him, even if at the time I didn't quite understand what it meant. When I was 11, one of my brothers decided to enter the Salesian formation house and, at my request, my father wrote to the Rector so that I could enter too. On 16 August 1964, I made my first religious profession as a Salesian of Don Bosco in the hands of Don Bosco's fifth successor.
How did you get to Bolivia?
From my community in Italy, they offered the possibility to go to Bolivia for me to strengthen a twinning between communities and to be able to take charge of the animation of the mission. I volunteered for this and followed a training schedule to better understand the type of work that would take place in a foreign mission. So, on April 27, 1977, the Superior called me and informed me that I would be leaving for Bolivia.
What happened, then, once you arrived?
I was introduced to the Bolivian reality and my tutors accompanied me for two weeks to teach me Spanish grammar. After this period, I moved to the community of Kami, where I arrived in December 1977. Here, for two years, there were no permanent priests and the Sisters of Jesus-Mary, already present in the community, had to bring priests for Mass from Oruro, Cochabamba, or Independencia.
What are your earliest memories of the Kami community?
On Christmas 1977 I celebrated Mass in a small tent. I remember that around 7 pm I met a group of people and some children who were waiting for me. In that tent, there was not even a table or a chair and the altar was none other than the hands of the children who were there. I will always remember this first experience because it was extremely meaningful for my priestly life. In the Kami community, we only started with a small house with three rooms and a bathroom. One of the first tasks was to make improvements to the place where the community would live all this time. On the following 8 January, Archbishop Most Rev. Armando Gutiérrez of Cochabamba visited us, presiding over my installation as parish priest of the parish of St. Joseph the Worker of Kami.
